I was hoping to gain Tribal Membership to Cherokee Nation West through DNA results. Sadly geneticists now know that that is really not possible at the present time. Let me explain. The reason why ethnicity is hard to prove is because of what happens at the moment of conception. I visualize two roulette wheels overlapped and spinning. One holds the DNA information from the Mother and from the father. They are the mix of what is possible, but when conception happens it lands on a number. But, that number is both Mother and Father. That is the DNA that is passed down to the child. Siblings can be different races or mixtures of lots of things.
Although we tried, we don't have the required documents to prove to the Nation our connection (great great Grandfather) to Jackson Downing although, we know through the family and what was written in the Workman Family Bible that he was our great, great grandfather. Our great Grandmother, Alice Downing is also on the Dawes Rolls. The Family Bible lists their Roll numbers as 17796 and 17798 respectively. The reason we don't have the documentation which would be Census records, is Jackson Downing was in jail in Ft. Smith.
I now have an 1850 census from Point Removal Creek, Arkansas that lists Jackson Downings age as just born and his parents as James and Rachel Downing. The only other documentation I can find on them is, they are listed as having been at the Cherokee Orphanage in Saline District after the Trail of Tears. They appear in the the recently released book "Only the Names Remain" which is a list of children that grew up in the Cherokee Orphanage. They are listed as being from Saline District. Jack is listed on pages 36, 38 and 46. Rachel and James are also listed. There are Drennan Roll numbers and only a Gurrion Miller roll number for Jack (see Downing archives). We know that Jack became a Deputy US Marshall out of Ft Smith Arkansas, and this is where he met and married Mary May Smith, proably in his 20s. He got caught running liquor into Indian Territory, was arrested but escaped from jail as reported in the National Archives records that we have. We also have documents that show he served with the Cherokee Guard during the Civil War. Alot of the confusion comes from him having several wives but I think we have finally gotten that information straightened out in the PAF file. 01/09 Update: got a call from a clerk at the National Archives. He informed me that because Jackson was a Deputy, there is proably no more information on him available. If he were a US Marshall, he would have to be confirmed and documented, so there would have been more information in that case, but he stated that anyone could be a deputy. They could be deputized for a day, a week, a month, whatever was needed at the time, and there wasn't really anymore information available other that what is in Jacket 50 of the Ft. Smith, criminal court cases. Also, there doesn't seem to be any other information. He is not listed on any other census than 1850 and we can't find marriage certificates for any of his marriages. The family story is, that after he got into trouble with the law, he left but, we don't really know where he went. The only clue we have left, is Jimmy Roger's statement that he and other family visited Charles Downing, supposedly a brother in Barron Fork, OK. If he was a brother, Charles must have been much younger, suprising, but still possible. And other family member stories that Florine visited her family on a regular basis at Baron Fork, OK